What’s Going On Here?On Tuesday, one of UK’s best-known department store retailers Debenhams announced that it’s run out of money and is shutting up shop. What Does This Mean?Debenhams’ collapse came the day after British retail empire Arcadia – which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge, and more – announced it was going under. Between them, they’ll take more than 25,000 jobs down with them. Slow sales during the pandemic proved to be the final blow for both companies, but they were under a lot of pressure even before coronavirus broke out: their physical stores have been costing them too much money, and they’ve been sluggish to adapt to a British customer who – lockdown or no lockdown – has been spending more and more of their hard-earned quid online. Why Should I Care?For markets: Hang on in there.
There have been some high-profile retail casualties in the US too, with J.C. Penney and J. Crew both filing for bankruptcy earlier in the year. But for those that survive, there might be better days ahead: investors are betting that typical spending habits will return when vaccines arrive. That might be why shares of some bruised retailers – like department store Macy’s – have been climbing higher since news of Moderna and Pfizer’s successful trials broke.
The bigger picture: Days are just a concept.
Ecommerce has made the “Friday” in Black Friday more and more flexible over the last few years, and the pandemic might’ve just bent it to breaking point. Retailers – which make 20% of their annual sales in November and December – have been spreading out their in-store deals over a longer period of time this year to limit holiday shopping crowds. So while Black Friday sales numbers are usually a good indicator of the retail sector’s fourth-quarter fortunes, investors will have to wait a bit longer for clues this time around. | 
